Day Five - Isaac's Solid Food

Continued with Heinz Iron Enriched Rice Cereal today with the same amount of cereal and consistency. BUT...BIG BUT, he doesn't want a single bit. When I put the spoon near his mouth, he kept turning his head away. And when he saw his milk bottle, he cried for it. So, he ended up having his milk without any cereal. I guess he doesn't like to be fed with a spoon as it's real SLOW!

Bellamy's Organic Baby Food - Porridge

I am looking forward to giving Isaac this Organic baby porridge when he reaches six months of age. This is a gift from a good friend of mine and she is really happy with this product. This is an Australian Organic Product from Tasmania from the age of 6 months. Made from organically grown oats and milled, cooked and dried into fine flakes it is ideal for breakfast or a light, nutritious meal through the day. Easy to prepare by mixing with breast milk. You can also use cooled and boiled water or warmed infant formula. Ingredients: Organic oats (99.97%),Vitamin C, Mineral (iron), Niacin, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Folate.Contains gluten.

Day Four - Isaac's Solid Food

The fourth day taking Heinz Iron Enriched Rice Cereal and today, he managed to finish his full serving as he was really hungry. He actually expected the cereal to flow continuously like milk and cried when I had to scoop a new spoonful of cereal for him. Mmm...a bit impatient. But anyway, he has to learn to be patient.

After his cereal, he had some milk and then, the zzz monster attacked him, that leaves me some time to write this post!

Day Three - Isaac's Solid Food

Continued with Heinz Iron Enriched Rice Cereal for the third day. No allergy noted so far.

However, Isaac didn't finish his rice cereal as he was distracted by the toys around him at his Exersaucer. So, lesson learned : feed him without all these toys around him, choose a place that has no distraction, so he can just focus on having his breakfast.

Isaac took another 120ml of milk today and again, complete with his usual burp .

After his breakfast, it's back to learning to sit on his own and a short walk around the compound to get some fresh air.

Day Two - Isaac's Solid Food

Continued with Heinz Iron Enriched Rice Cereal but I have decided to increase to one and a half teaspoon of the cereal and mix with breastmilk. Today's cereal consistency is slightly thicker than yesterday but still "runny".

Isaac finished everything! And I gave him another 100ml of milk as he was still hungry. I have cut down his usual 150ml per feed to 100ml since he is taking cereal. Not too sure if that is too much but since milk is still pretty much babies' staple diet for now, I think it should be alright to let him drink.

And all this feeding complete with his usual burp . Heehee....

Day One - Isaac's first solid

Isaac just had a taste of his very first solid food :

Heinz Iron Enriched Rice Cereal - Mix 1 tsp of Heinz rice cereal with breast milk to make it to a thin consistency cereal.

Isaac finished only half of the cereal, he seems to be ok with it, just that he is not used to being fed using a spoon and felt real uncomfortable.

I will have to monitor for any allergy reaction and will continue with his rice cereal tomorrow if no allergy found.

Really fun to feed him this way, though it's messy and takes longer.

Heinz Iron Enriched Rice Cereal

Just bought Heinz Iron Enriched Rice Cereal for Isaac's breakfast tomorrow. This is the only brand I managed to find at a nearby supermarket today which is iron enriched, rice based and suitable for babies 4 months and above.

Iron fortified rice cereal

Now that Isaac is four over months, I think it's really time to introduce some solid just to see if he is interested and whether he is ready for more.

I intend to start with dry iron-fortified baby rice cereal as it's highly recommended as the best first food for babies. Rice is the least allergenic grain and is also easily digestible by baby's system.

Some of the brands recommended by experts include Gerber, Earth's Best or Beech Nut. Here is the link to the article.

Porridge vs Purees

In many Asian households, porridges rather than purees are the first foods offered to babies. Parents and caregivers go to great lengths to buy the best and even expensive ingredients to add to the porridge. Much care is taken to cook the porridge over low heat until the final product is very soft and flavourful. Many parents are convinced that it is best to follow this traditional practice, as slow-cooked porridges are very nourishing and easy for baby to eat........precious ingredients are lost through prolonged cooking.....

(Source : First Foods Expert Advice and Easy Recipes by Dietitians for Parents of 6-24 Month Olds by Anna Jacob, Pauline Chan, Samantha Thiessen, Janie Chua and Wong Yuefen)

First Foods

I have been recommended this book by many local parents here in Singapore and yes, immediately, I headed down to Borders and bought a copy. It's a great book that covers basic nutritional requirements for babies and for a bad cook like myself, those simple, easy to follow recipes really help. Although Isaac is not on solids yet, I am looking forward to following the recipes in this book and explore this whole new journey with him!

For Singaporeans, this book can also be found at the Singapore National Library, click here for the location of the book, but so far, I think it's only for reference, not available for borrowing.

Feeding Schedule (Month Four)

Isaac's routine is more established and he is taking about 700ml a day and taking 5 feeds a day at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm and 4am. My plan is to start him with solid food for the 8am feed for 3 days and subsequently adjust his timing so that his dinner is at 5.30pm